Why Fabio Capello must axe Russia’s calamity keeper Igor Akinfeev

Igor Akinfeev has been poor in Brazil, his first international tournament since Euro 2008 (Picture: AP Photo)

As expected, Fabio Capello is being castigated for Russia’s elimination from Group H, but it was CSKA keeper Igor Akinfeev’s ghastly mistakes that doomed the squad.

This is the article I least expected to write about Russia’s Brazil campaign. Surely we would not be let down by Mr Reliable and CSKA legend Igor Akinfeev, the cornerstone on which Capello built his defence?

Even after he muffed South Korea forward Lee Keun-ho’s long-range effort, squirting the ball backwards into the net, I felt confident that he was not going to be the goat.

For one, the one-time Manchester United and Arsenal target has been the standard for Russian goalkeeping over the past decade, helping CSKA to five titles since 2003 behind trusty centre backs Sergei Ignashevich and the Berezutski brothers.

Of more relevance, he’s a feisty leader on the pitch and a tough-as-nails competitor, always ready to mix it up with opponents he deems overly aggressive. Prone to the occasional howler – case in point, South Korea – Akinfeev always seemed to bounce back thanks to a self-assured attitude.

‘From everyone who was upset, I ask forgiveness. It won’t happen again,’ he declared in the aftermath of the draw with Korea.

Against Belgium, Akinfeev could not be blamed, putting in a fine performance as Belgium scored just once through no fault of his.

But when the pressure began to rise, Russia leading 1-0 at the half against Algeria, 45 minutes from progressing to the knockout rounds for the first time since 1988, Akinfeev cracked once more.

It was a costly mistake, his decision to charge out on a free kick, freeing up the goal for possibly Premier League-bound Islam Slimani’s clinical equaliser. Perhaps not as egregious as his earlier gaffe, but much less forgivable given the stakes and his position as a veteran and team leader.

Yes, Russia struggled to score, with Aleksandr Kokorin and Aleksandr Samedov missing golden opportunities that may have put the squad through.

Akinfeev’s blunders cut deeper because they undermined the squad’s greatest strength, defence, its only hope for doing damage in Brazil.

More significantly, they-ve opened the door to doubts about whether he’s really the man to lead Russia over the next four years as the nation prepares to host the 2018 World Cup, where the pressure will be magnified 10-fold.

He’ll be 32 then, coming off his 15th professional season, his body already hampered by two major operations on his left knee.

It’s time for Capello, who by all accounts appears to be staying on with Russia, to make a change and look to the future.

The good news is that 24-year-old Zenit keeper Yuri Lodygin is waiting in the wings. Extremely athletic, with an uncanny ability to react, he took the Russian league by storm last season and jumped up to number two on Capello’s depth chart.